36 million in India to face threat of annual floods by 2050: Study

Nearly 36 million people in India will be threatened by flooding annually by 2050 if green house gas emissions are not reduced, a new study has said, showing the potential of climate change to reshape cities, economies and coastlines within our lifetimes.

By 2100, it warned, 44 million people will be under the risk of annual flooding due to rise in the sea level.

The study by US-based NGO Climate Central said six Asian countries India, China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Thailand where 237 million people live, could face annual coastal flooding threats by 2050, roughly 183 million more than assessments based on prevailing elevation data.

The findings are based on CoastalDEM, a new digital elevation model developed by Climate Central, the NGO said in a statement.

"Six Asian countries are home to the great majority of people approximately 237 million combined living in places that without coastal defence could experience coastal flooding at least annually by 2050, more than quadrupling estimates based on older elevation data," it said. "Asian countries see biggest increases in threatened land."